In brief
- The risk is not the joint venture itself but a role inside it that no partner has run before, such as earthworks, fit out or commissioning.
- Ask for the proposed site team for your build and the projects where those people held the same posts, then walk one of those sites.
- Put the role split, nominated staff and any change to the split in the contract before work starts.
Contents
A joint venture can register for work in Bosaso and still hold a gap: joint venture roles experience gaps appear when no partner has run one of the roles the venture has taken on. The name on the bid looks strong, but the person who will actually run piling, fit out or commissioning has never held that role before. Two firms joining to pool equipment and a licence does not create that experience. It only spreads the name.
Where does the joint venture role gap start?
It starts in the bid, when partners split work by what each can bring rather than by what each has run. One partner may supply the plant, another the licence, a third the labour, and the role descriptions get written to fit that. A partner can hold a strong record in one kind of work and still have never managed the trade it agrees to take. The gap is invisible on the licence, the registration papers or the bid form, because those show the venture, not the post. Ask each partner for the projects where it held the same role it is now accepting, with the dates and the client contact. Then check whether those projects were run by staff who will be on your site. A role held by a firm is not the same as a role held by the crew that turns up.
What does the gap do once work starts?
Unclear delivery responsibility is the usual result. The partner who took the role does not know the sequence, so it waits for instruction. The other partners assume it is covered. On a Bosaso build the visible signs can be trades arriving before the work they follow, plant sitting idle while a method is debated, or hold points signed without a record. When the client asks who owns the next step, no single partner answers. Ask for the proposed site organisation chart with named people, the posts they held on past projects and a short method statement for the first month of their work. Compare the chart with what you see on site. If the site manager is not the person named, ask why in writing. Confirm technical limits such as cover, spacing or testing frequency against the project specification or the engineer, not against a partner's recollection.
What tells you the roles are real and not paper?
Walk a site the same partner built, in the same kind of work, with the same supervisor. Watch how instructions move: who sets the day's work, who checks it, who signs it off. Ask for test records, inspection sheets and any handover file from that project. A partner with real role experience can show records in its own name. A venture with a gap tends to show the other partner's records, or none. Ask the municipal engineer's office what it holds for the plot and for nearby works, since local files may show who built what. Check the contract. See what it allows for changing the role split or the named staff, and what evidence it requires if a partner is replaced.
What to do next
Ask the venture for a one page role split: each partner, the scope it takes, and the named person who will run it. Request the last two projects where that person held the same post, with client contacts. Then walk one of those sites before shortlisting. Put the role split and the nominated staff in the contract, and agree in writing how any change to either will be reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
Can a joint venture in Bosaso share experience between partners?
Not automatically. A client typically looks at the experience of the firm or team that will run the role on this project. Ask which named person will hold each post and where they held it before.
How do I check a partner's role experience if the records are old?
Ask for the client contact on that project and for any test or inspection records issued in the partner's name. If records are not available, ask for a supervised trial of the work before it is accepted.
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Bosaso and Puntland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.